TEFL Scams and How to Avoid Them

For general discussion between teachers

Moderator: Joe

User avatar
John V55
Top Contributor
Posts: 467
Joined: 02 Apr 2015, 01:34
Status: Teacher

TEFL Scams and How to Avoid Them

Unread post by John V55 »

Are you expecting a long post of 1000 words with a dozen spammy links? I’m sorry to disappoint you, but the bottom line is this.

If you’re determined to follow the money trail, good times and a western lifestyle in a developing country promised by private businesses and those spamming for them, you will very likely get scammed.

Exposing individual companies is pointless. When there is too much adverse publicity these businesses will simply change their name, email and ‘phone number and will be back up and running the next day under a new identity.

There are three hierarchal levels of TEFL teaching.

• At the top are the international schools who usually require their teachers to have a professional teachers licence from their own country.
• Next are the state schools requiring a degree, TEFL certificate and experience. These too are overseen by government education authorities.
• At the bottom are the private language centres who bypass the requirements of the educational authorities by being a private business.

The bottom end of TEFL is where the scams, arrests and deportations arise from as the gullible and/or unqualified are lured in with promises of high salaries. This is the world of fake qualifications, no work permits and moonlighting. A sector where businesses vie for applicants on websites that look like sales brochures, which is what they are.

Those leading you into the murky depths of TEFL are often those who have been scammed themselves, but aren’t bright enough to have realized it yet. For them the promised ¥40K pm is still a reality as they point their fingers at those who took advantage of their naivety/greed and still fail to realize their gullibility was part of the scam. Think about it. Who on earth in a developing country is going to pay anyone ¥10K (£1000 - $1400) a week for having attended a 150 hour TEFL certificate course?

The scams then affect those who believe that at the end of the TEFL rainbow is a pot of gold as they go on a crusade to find the mythical company that actually pays the hype they’ve bought into. Anonymous posters on anonymous web pages posting anonymous success stories and encouraging everyone else to go down the same road.

Don’t do it, if you want to be a teacher stay within the safety of the education system instead of being at the mercy of businesses.
User avatar
John V55
Top Contributor
Posts: 467
Joined: 02 Apr 2015, 01:34
Status: Teacher

Re: TEFL Scams and How to Avoid Them

Unread post by John V55 »

Scammers rely on certain personality characteristics, specifically targeting the naïve, gullible and greedy. What seems obvious to the majority will appear perfectly normal to the minority and it’s why they fall for it. How many in the west sent the requested $50 to the email they got from a government official in Nigeria in return for depositing a share of $1m into their account? Is it an obvious scam? Of course it is with all the other variations of ‘Dear Beloved’, but it works and it’s why they do it.

Scams also occur in TEFL and the majority are easy to spot. When employment is advertised as a holiday of exotic adventures with high salaries, stay away because that’s all coming from private businesses. In addition, if you come across anonymous posters advocating illegal freelancing, spam linking to the same anonymous sites and containing links to an illegal China Foreign Teachers Union, avoid them like the plague.

This from an anonymous poster on TEFL.net offering advice on scams.

"And all of these factors will determine whether you earn $30,000 a year or $100,000 a year as a foreign teacher..."

Think about that. You’re being asked to believe that a developing country with less than half the living costs of the west is going to pay you $2083 - £1486 A WEEK for a TEFL certificate?! What are you, a brain surgeon?

Next come the gullible.

"David came to China unaware that he was working illegally on an F visa, and that he was unqualified to work at his originally assigned school because he lacked a college degree."

Someone travelled to the other side of the world and didn’t even know what visa was required? Gullible or just stupid, you decide.

Greed is often a determining factor.

"ESLinsider baited and switched me on a job placement in 2017. The owner Ian said I could get a full-time job that paid $3,800 a month with a free furnished apartment with air-fare reimbursement if I completed his TEFL course ($599 at the time) and a fake diploma from him for another $500 which I negotiated down to $300 … it sounded like a great deal … was taken directly to a jail way out in the boonies where I met about 60 other foreigners with similar problems."

60 stupid people finally meet up. An anonymous character located in Romania and willing to work with fake qualifications complains of being scammed and ends up in jail where he meets dozens of others in the same position. Laugh or sympathize, it’s your choice.

Scams are not difficult to spot. If you believe you can earn the salary of a brain surgeon with a TEFL certificate, or maybe you believe TEFL is a non-stop high paying partying gig, there are hundreds of recruiters out there who would like to speak to you. There are also no end of spammers leading you into the same scam filled minefield. The correlation between scams and spammers is they’re both operating outside the regulated education authorities. Whether you’re being led into believing that freelancing in a surveillance police state will go unnoticed, or are offered eye watering salaries which don’t exist, the only safe way to TEFL is to stay away from the privatized TEFL industry and the anonymous spammers leading you there.
AddaLing

Re: TEFL Scams and How to Avoid Them

Unread post by AddaLing »

If you check the information you need from the formal channels, you can avoid some scams and some tricks.
And there are some scams about teaching abroad which can help you to give you a warning.
1. Too Good to Be True
2. Visa Scam. If your school is ready to hire you without a work visa, that would be a major scam.
3. Contract Does Not Match Verbal Promise. False recruiters, for example, could guarantee you a place at an international school. Even so, they start you off in one school and then transfer you to another and another without warning, cause, or your permission.
User avatar
Vagabond
Top Contributor
Posts: 124
Joined: 06 Nov 2020, 20:22
Status: Teacher Trainer

Re: TEFL Scams and How to Avoid Them

Unread post by Vagabond »

Image

Avoiding TEFL Scams anywhere in the world is easy if you are willing to read. https://abroadreviews.com/china-tefl-jo ... ams-reddit

Another great starting point is https://reddit.com/r/teflscams or https://reddit.com/r/tefl_tip_traps_scams Good luck to you!{/size]
Before taking any teaching job in China make a quick visit over to https://reddit.com/r/ChinaScamCentral and https://reddit.com/r/TEFLreviews so your dream job does not become a nightmare.
Post Reply